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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27622832">champion chess player of new texas</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ratbrain/pseuds/ratbrain'>ratbrain</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Mechanisms (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Insecurity</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-08 19:27:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,494</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27622832</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ratbrain/pseuds/ratbrain</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jonny never tells Tim much about his childhood, so when Tim finds an old photo of Jonny it unsurprisingly doesn't end very well. </p><p>(or Jonny was a nerdy chess player with glasses before he became immortal and does not want anyone knowing that)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jonny d'Ville/Gunpowder Tim</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>59</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>champion chess player of new texas</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>just a heads up this takes place right after "Insecurity is a Bitch", but that's really only relevant for the first few paragraphs </p><p>anyways enjoy the self projection</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After what was, predictably, a very long and boring lecture from Nastya, the two were back in Tim’s room. </p><p>        “You tired, love?” Tim asked. </p><p>	“A little, not very” Jonny answered. It was a known fact that Jonny, despite his immortality, did not get anywhere near enough sleep. This concerned Tim a bit, but he’d learned not to press on it when the issue wasn’t severe. Besides, he wasn’t tired either and he didn’t mind a night of staying up and talking. </p><p>	“Let’s get you cleaned up,” Tim said, leaving Jonny on his bed while he went to the bathroom to wet a towel. </p><p>	“I’m fine, I can do it myself” Jonny protested, getting up. He was stopped by Tim, who guided him back to bed and began wiping his face with the towel. </p><p>	“I know, but I want to,” he said softly. Either Jonny must’ve been more tired than he was willing to admit, or after what had just happened was more desperate for physical contact than usual, because he quietly leaned into the touch. Tim wiped away all the tears and snot from his crying before, placing gentle kisses against his skin as he cleaned. When Tim was done he placed a kiss on Jonny’s forehead and tossed the towel into the bucket of dirty clothes in the corner. He’d wash them tomorrow, he told himself as he laid down in bed and pulled Jonny close to him. </p><p>	They stayed like that for a bit, just enjoying the contact, before Tim spoke. </p><p>	“Tell me a story?” He asked. Jonny laughed a bit, propping himself up on his elbow and using the other hand to reach out and run a hand through Tim’s long hair. </p><p>	“About what?” He asked, his voice gentle. </p><p>	“Hmm..” Jonny had plenty of stories from immortality before he met Tim, but he didn’t want to hear those. “Tell me about New Texas,” he said. </p><p>	“There’s not really much to tell, darling. It was boring, my dad was a dick, and I turned immortal there. I think I’ve told you all there really is to know about it”</p><p>	“Okay, but what about before you turned immortal? Like, growing up and stuff like that. You’ve never told me much about that”</p><p>	“I don’t know why you’d want to know. I was a normal New Texan kid, doing totally violent things by an early age. It was kind of the standard there”</p><p>	“Really?”</p><p>	“Yeah. Now, what about...did I ever tell you the first time I saw an octokitten?”</p><p>	“I don’t think so, but I swear if this story is just going to be you entirely insulting my babies I don’t want to hear it”</p><p>	“Okay fine fine, I will try to keep my insults down to a minimum. No promises though”</p><p>	Tim sighed happily as Jonny began his story, still brushing through his hair or occasionally reaching down to stroke his face. He’d actually heard this story many times before, and could probably very well recite it by now. But he also knew that it was one of Jonny’s favorites to tell, and if hearing a few insults about his angels would make Jonny’s voice do that light and happy thing it did when he talked about them, well then it was worth it. </p><p>	In all honesty Tim probably should have left the whole childhood thing alone. After all, when people have asshole fathers they avoid talking about it's a good general rule to avoid discussion of it. But still, Tim felt like Jonny was keeping something from him. After all, this was Jonny, who loved turning everything into an elaborate story. Did he not trust Tim and that’s why he wasn’t telling him? What reason had Tim given Jonny to not trust him? Jonny told him everything, even the things he really didn’t want to know (he might be madly in love with him, but certain bodily functions do not need to be discussed at such length). So he decided he would ask the one other person he knew who might be able to help. </p><p>	“Ivy?” Tim asked, walking into her room. </p><p>	“Yes?” She said, not bothering to look up from her book. </p><p>	“You’re an archivist, right?”</p><p>	“Yes” she said, still not looking up. </p><p>	“I need help finding something”</p><p>	That got her attention. Trivial matters were of minimal interest to her, but finding information? Today must be her lucky day, she thought. </p><p>	“What is it?”</p><p>	“Um, do you know anything about Jonny? Like, before he became immortal?”</p><p>	“There were some files left by Carmilla, in addition to some New Texan records I’ve been able to dig up. Why?”</p><p>	“Just curious. Can you show them to me?”</p><p>	Ivy dug through a huge stack of papers before pulling out a large manilla folder with Jonny’s name written in the top left tab. Tim opened the folder and looked through it. The papers from New Texas were all the usual things, a few police reports about some murders with Jonny listed as the possible (and most likely) suspect, of course the burning of One Eyed Jacks and the official report of death for Billy Vangelesis. Tim was about to ask where Ivy got these before he saw the papers behind these, the ones from Carmilla. There was a photo, but that couldn’t be Jonny. For one, he was a few years younger than before he’d became immortal. Secondly, he just looked...different. </p><p>	In the photo Jonny was wearing huge glasses and his hair was down to his shoulders. Third, he was sitting at a table playing some kind of a game. It looked vaguely familiar, so Tim turned the photo over to read what was written on the back “J. Vangelesis, former champion, plays in a local chess tournament”. Jonny was a chess player? The one time Tim had ever asked him if he even knew how to play he told him it was a “stupid game with too many fucking rules”. Even the few times he had joined in on the rest of the crew's Mahjong games Jonny always seemed to hold interest for a few minutes at best before leaving (usually because he was losing). Tim had always thought it strange that someone from a planet practically built on gambling was so terrible at it, but just assumed it was from lack of practice in hundreds of years. </p><p>	In his defense, he had never intended for anyone else to see the photo. He barely got Ivy to let him keep it, as she was worried about it messing up her filing system, or something like that. But Tim had promised her that it would only be for the rest of the day, just to taunt Jonny a bit in private before he would return it to her. She reluctantly agreed, and he set off for his room where he knew Jonny was still probably sleeping. </p><p>	So he hadn’t meant for Nastya to see it. He was walking through the hallways, and in hindsight he really should have put the photo in his pocket or something. But it was a pretty big picture, and he didn’t want to fold it for fear of getting scolded by Ivy. And when Nastya confronted him, Tim really, really wished he knew how to lie. </p><p>	“Oh, it’s uh, it’s-” he tried to think of anything that Nastya wouldn’t want to see “it’s porn”</p><p>	“What?”</p><p>	“Yeah. You probably don’t want to see it, considering it’s a person and, you know, not a ship”</p><p>	“Why the hell are you walking through the hallways with porn?” she asked, crossing her arms. Fuck, she was so not buying it, Tim thought to himself. </p><p>	“Because I’m borrowing it”</p><p>	“From who?”</p><p>	“....Ivy”</p><p>	“Tim I know you’re lying”</p><p>	“I am not!”</p><p>	“Tim either tell me what it is right now, or I kill you and feed the octokittens poison while you’re regenerating”</p><p>	“Christ I forgot how harsh you can be sometimes”</p><p>	“Most do, now let me see” she said, taking it from his hands. Her eyes went wide as she began laughing. “This, no, it can’t be him” she said, before turning and running back to one of the living areas, where of course Brian and Ashes just had to be. Tim tried to catch up to her, but she was fast. </p><p>	“Guys check this out!” she said, waving the picture around. By the time Tim managed to pry it from her hands, both Ashes and Brian had already gotten a well enough look and were hysterically laughing. </p><p>	And since today was apparently the day of convenient timing, that was also the moment when Jonny walked in and asked what was so funny. </p><p>	“You never mentioned you were a chess player D’Ville!” Ashes said. Jonny’s face went pale as he looked at Tim, who stood clutching the picture against his chest. He took the picture from Tim’s arms and his face went somehow paler. He looked at the rest of them, who were still laughing and obviously hadn’t noticed his horrified expression, and ran out of the room. </p><p>	“Oh shit, do you think we crossed a line?” Ashes asked. </p><p>	“Maybe. I’ll go find him” Tim said, following the direction Jonny took off in. </p><p>	Finding Jonny proved to be harder than Tim originally thought, but he eventually found him hiding in one of the engine rooms, curled up with his knees pressed against his chest. </p><p>        “Jonny? You alright?” Tim asked, sitting down a few feet in front of him. He wanted to wrap Jonny up in his arms and apologize and press gentle kisses into his hair, but how Jonny reacted to physical touch when upset could vary widely. It was best to take these things slowly and let Jonny do whatever he was comfortable with. </p><p>	In this case, Jonny simply shook his head and buried his face deeper into his knees. </p><p>	“Do you wanna tell me what’s wrong?” Tim said, cautiously moving closer. </p><p>	“I thought I destroyed all of them” he said quietly.`</p><p>	“All of what, love?” Tim said, now gently reaching out his hand and placing it on Jonny’s shoulder. Jonny didn’t flinch or shove it off, which probably meant he wanted to be comforted. Still, Tim would wait for Jonny to initiate anything further. </p><p>	“All the pictures. I thought I got rid of them”</p><p>	“Why would you want to do something like that darling? You look adorable-”</p><p>	“Yeah? Tell that to the other kids”</p><p>	“I don’t exactly think I follow you”</p><p>	“Let’s just say New Texas isn’t exactly known for four eyed chess players. My dad wasn’t a huge fan either”</p><p>	“Oh love” Tim said, now beginning to understand what had made Jonny so upset. “I’m sorry”</p><p>	“I’m gonna throw myself out of the airlock” Jonny said, suddenly standing up. </p><p>	“What why?!”</p><p>	“Well I’ve managed to keep this part of my life secret for a couple hundred years but now it’s out so this seems like the only logical option”</p><p>	There was a chance Jonny was joking, and that this was all an elaborate overreaction to make Tim laugh and forget how seriously upset Jonny was over this. But this was also Jonny who would probably throw himself out of the airlock for fun if asked, so better not to take any chances. Tim grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and sighed fondly. </p><p>	“Jonny it’s alright, no one really cares much. They’ll probably forget about it soon, it’s nothing to make a violent suicide attempt over”</p><p>	Jonny sighed dramatically and crossed his arms. Tim smiled at him and kissed him gently on the forehead. “I’m sorry” he said “It wasn’t right of me to go looking where I shouldn’t have. I love you, and I never ever want to see you unhappy. And if you want, we can destroy that photo” Tim knew that last line would have him getting his ass handed to him by Ivy, but it didn’t matter. If it made Jonny feel happy and safe again, he would do anything. </p><p>	“No it’s alright. I just wasn’t expecting it I guess” Jonny said. </p><p>	“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I think you look absolutely adorable in glasses”</p><p>	“Don’t push it” Jonny said, but he was smiling. </p><p>	“What? Not that I don’t think you look absolutely adorable now” Tim said, taking Jonny’s hand in his and pressing a kiss to the back of his palm. </p><p>	“You’re so cheesy”</p><p>	“And you’re so pretty” Tim said, running a hand quickly through Jonny’s hair before settling it against the back of his neck and pulling him in for a deep kiss, which Jonny melted into as he brought his arms up to wrap around Tim and settle in the small of his back. </p><p>	Jonny still avoided any mention of his past, even when the other members of the crew bugged him for an explanation for the photo. He’d simply glare at them and change the topic, and after a few weeks no one was really that interested in knowing about it anymore. </p><p>	They were on a small planet called Velhem, mostly for violence purposes, when Tim saw it. Jonny was back on the ship, regenerating after an argument with Ashes concerning just how long he could hold his breath. The answer turned out to be not very long. So Tim was getting a drink in one of the less violent bars (not that he had any aversion to violence, he just really wanted a drink and didn’t feel much like fighting for it) and out of the corner of his eye he saw an old man hunched over a table, with a seemingly ancient chess set before him. </p><p>	“How much for it?” He said, walking over to it. </p><p>	“Not for sale” the old man crooned, his long white hair falling in front of his face as he spoke, “Unless, of course, you beat me. Then I might be willing to-”</p><p>	“Or I just shoot you and take the set,” Tim said, pulling his pistol out of his belt and aiming it at the man's face. </p><p>	“Christ kid fucking take it then” the old man said, shoving the pieces towards him. Tim gathered them in his pockets and slipped the board under his arm, saying a quick thank you before leaving. Just because he could regularly threaten lives doesn’t mean he should be rude about it after all. </p><p>	He made sure no one else was on the ship except for him and Jonny when he returned. Jonny was sitting on Tim’s bed, sleeping off the pain of regeneration. Tim leaned down and kissed him on the forehead, “I got you something” he said. </p><p>	“What is it?” Jonny said, sitting up and yawning. Tim held the chessboard out to him, and Jonny froze. Tim panicked for a few seconds, realizing that maybe this wasn’t his best idea. But after the initial shock Jonny smiled up at him with a wicked grin. </p><p>	“Oh I am so gonna kick your ass in chess!”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I have no idea if chess canonically exists in the mechs lore but if mahjong can I am honestly assuming it's fair game.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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